


Make Me Whole

by fangirlSevera



Category: Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-18
Updated: 2011-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-27 12:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/295765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlSevera/pseuds/fangirlSevera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old User and an old program, both in desperate need of repair, try to reconnect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make Me Whole

**Author's Note:**

> Rating is for language and one moment of disturbing imagery.

The brightest light, a deafening roar, the inexplicable feeling of nothing.

Then darkness, silence, and indescribable pain.

Kevin Flynn wasn't sure which state of being was worse.

If he was in fact being at all. He did not expect to survive reintegration. He did not expect many things: Not Clu's betrayal, not Sam, not finding Tron, but twisted. With a pained gasp he opened his eyes to the stormy skies of the Grid. His body felt as if every molecule was violently torn from one another then smashed back together at the greatest velocity.

He supposed that was pretty accurate, actually.

Yeah, the pain was worse than the nothing. Definitely. He clenched his teeth together, and hissed. Muscles burned, bones ached. Why didn't he just die? He squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head to one side. When he opened them again he had yet another unexpected sight.

He was not alone.

There was a program lying a couple feet away from Flynn's own prone form. His circuits flickered dimly, the coloring shifting from blue, to white, to red, to orange, to blue again, endlessly cycling. _Tron_.

And with that thought he passed out.

He was awoken again by a sharp gasp, but this time not his own. His eyes shot open to find Tron awake, sitting up, but bent over coughing. _Since when do programs...._ Flynn did not have the energy to go to his friend, as much as he wanted to. It was difficult enough to try and sit-up himself. He watched helplessly as Tron shivered, hands cupped over his face.

When he took his hands away, the program frowned at his palms. Flynn could see they were covered in red. Okay, programs coughing was one thing, but coughing up blood? Tron convulsed again, bending over on elbows and knees as he coughed and coughed until instead he started to heave. The red substance poured from his mouth onto the dark shore.

Flynn watched, confused, worried, disgusted, but also fascinated.

Tron shuddered, the red...stuff...ebbing into a trickle running down his chin. He pushed himself back from the glittering puddle of red he had created, and shook his hands to get it off him.

"What was that?"

Tron sat back against a rock and sighed. "I... I don't-"

Looking at the stuff a little longer, Flynn realized it wasn't really red. It was more of an orange. Kind of like... "I think that's Rinzler," Flynn speculated. Tron's system purging itself of the corrupted code by inducing vomiting? That was really bizarre, and kind of cool. Flynn shook his head. "Is that all of it?"

"I don't know..." Tron was pale, so very pale. It hurt to look at him and his still weak circuits, struggling in the dark. "I need to..." And Tron's body slumped as he went offline.

Well, fuck. That was hardly how Flynn ever envisioned being reunited with his lost friend. In his dreams he always managed to say those words that were so necessary, yet inadequate: "I'm sorry." and "I missed you."

Flynn closed his eyes, breathed deep, trying to meditate away the pain both physical and emotional, at least for a little while. He needed to be centered when Tron rebooted. He needed to be there for him. He didn't keep track of the millicycles that passed before he heard Tron boot with a series of clicks and a harsh grinding that could not have been healthy at all, man.

At least his circuits had a much healthier glow to them and were consistently blue. Tron examined the ones on his fingers, seemingly mesmerized. "Hey, you okay?" Flynn flinched at his stupid question.

Tron's head jerked up and he stared at Flynn, mouth open, wide-eyed. Odd, like he'd already forgotten their previous, albeit brief, conversation. But then, Tron was probably pretty out of it then, only now in greater command of his senses. "Flynn." The name was merely a burst of breath and made Kevin's heart clench. "Flynn, I'm sorr-"

"Whoa! Whoa, hey, no way!" Tron started at the interruption. "You're not saying that. Not here, not now, not ever. I'm the one who needs to be apologizing here. And it'll never be enough."

"But, I failed."

"Tron-"

"No, listen for once, Flynn!" Tron's voice had deepened into a growl and for the briefest moment his circuits flared orange. "My function has only ever been to protect. To protect the system, the programs that inhabit, and serve my User. I have failed in all these protocols."

"It wasn't your fault!"

"Neither was it yours."

"I created him, I programmed him with improperly defined terms. A program failure is a user failure. User error we called it. A machine or program only worked as well as it is created to be and how well it is initiated by the user."

Tron stared at him, uncomprehending.

Flynn laughed. "Look at us, a couple of sorry old men. I don't think either of us are going to allow the other to take any blame, so maybe we should just move on to another topic."

Tron glanced down, jaw set in its stubborn way. He started coughing again, but not as violently. He spat out another gob of corrupted code and grimaced.

"Erhm...just how much of that stuff is in you?" Because really, he might have to start teaching Tron some User etiquette about ejecting bodily fluids.

"I don't know. Clu..."

Ah yes, and the elephant in the room was finally named. "I could always take a look-"

Tron shook his head and patted his back, demonstrating the lack of discs.

Suddenly, the distance was too unbearable. To be so close yet so far overrode all the other aches in Flynn's healing body. He held up his hand, arm outstretched, for all it felt like lifting lead. "C'mere."

Flynn hadn't even noticed the tension Tron was holding in until he saw it disappear from his body. Tron crossed the distance and curled up against Flynn's side. Kevin wrapped an arm around Tron's shoulders. "I'm going to fix this," Flynn whispered into Tron's hair.

"Fix?"

"All of it. The Grid, you," he laughed, "me." He looked up past the edges of the Outlands to see Tron City still gleaming on the horizon.

Kevin didn't remember falling asleep or passing out, but he woke-up, so ergo... With every bout of unconsciousness though, he felt stronger, breathed easier, and less in pain. Well, except for the crick in his back and neck. "Gotta stop sleeping on rocks, need to get us some descent digs." With a start he realized he was speaking to no one. So Tron decided he was better off without him. Not surprising, Flynn wasn't terribly keen on his own company, but disappointing all the same.

He groaned, and with some help from the boulder he'd been sleeping on, stood. He looked out across the Sea of Simulation to where the platform once hanged. Before the burning light, he remembered now, Sam and Quorra. They were out, they were safe. There was hope.

He turned back to his rock and cracked his knuckles. "Well Flynn, let's see if you’ve still got it." He pressed hands against the boulder and started to manipulate its structural matrices, expanding it out. Going deeper, he made it hollow. With one last push of will, he made a rectangular entrance for his rudimentary shelter. Once inside he could work on the more detailed notions of comfort, hopefully in time before his next pass-out, already feeling the energy drain from his mild exertions.

A noise broke the silence. Flynn turned back to the sea to see its surface break. A figure climbed out and up to the shore. Tron!

Flynn ran, okay walked swiftly, to the dripping program's side. Tron was on his knees and clutching two dark discs in either hand. His circuits were dim and flickering. Tron had drained himself again, with his little swim.

"Come on." Flynn pulled on Tron's arm. "I can't carry you. And look, I made us our own little seaside cabin. Well, more like a hut."

Tron looked up at him and over to where Flynn was pointing, blinking through the liquid code running into his eyes. "Or giant rock."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well if you're gonna be literal-minded."

They half-leaned on each other all the way back to the little domicile. Inside, Tron immediately slumped against a curved, white wall and Flynn went to work on a bed; double-sized. Presumptuous? Probably. But seeing as Tron hadn't commented yet- Flynn looked over his shoulder. Oh. Tron had already gone into sleep mode. The discs were still in his hands, but the grip slack. Flynn knelt in front of him, took the liberty and brushed a damp lock of dark hair back from his forehead. He allowed his fingers to trail down a smooth, pale cheek, briefly brushing over intricate, soft eyelashes; an almost absurd detail in programs.

Tron didn't stir at the touch.

Flynn reached for the discs. Tron's eyes snapped open, pulled his hands back from Flynn's reaching fingers. The broken, dangerous growl rumbled from his chest.

Kevin fell back in surprise. Tron shook his head once, and came back to himself, relaxing his body and the growl quieted. "Flynn! I'm sorr-"

"Nuh. Uh." Flynn held up a hand. "We gotta agree. No more apologizing from either of us. 'Cuz it's getting us nowhere."

Tron nodded. "What were you doing?" He was cut off by his own coughing.

"We gotta take care of that. Was going to take a look at your discs there."

Tron looked down at his hands as if he'd forgotten he'd been holding the two dark discs, then back up at Flynn. "Later," his voice rougher sounding than Flynn ever remembered, "you need rest."

"Feels like that's all I've been doing."

"It is necessary." He paused a moment, eyes going glassy. Flynn recognized it as a program accessing information. Tron, in his current state, was taking longer than normal. "You were not expected to survive reintegration." His eyes refocused. "At least that is what Clu said." Tron involuntarily shivered at uttering his former master's name.

"Yeah, well, that's because that's what _I_ always thought."

"I am glad you were wrong." Tron smiled that shy, crooked smile; the one similar to Bradley's exasperated smirk. The gesture and the memory made Flynn's heart hurt, but for the first time since unexpectedly waking up, he had to agree.

* * *

Sleeping on an actual bed made a world of difference to Flynn's aching body. He looked over at Tron, who with only a little cajoling, had agreed to take advantage of the soft surface as well. Tron was on his back, eyes open and aware. He flicked his gaze from the ceiling as he felt Flynn stir.

"How you feeling, man?"

"There have been no significant fluctuations, neither positive nor negative."

"Hmm..." Flynn noticed the two discs lying between them. "Can I?"

Tron sat up and took them in hand. With a sickly whine they activated. One burned a bright red-orange, the other flickered and shifted colors like Tron's own circuits. He held them out, chin down in that unsettling reverent way programs did when presenting their discs to a User.

"Okay, why don't we just get rid of this guy." Flynn deactivated the orange disc. Both went out. He activated Tron's original disc. It flickered briefly then shut off. He frowned. He reactivated the orange disc. Tron's lit up again and stayed on.

So Tron's disc couldn't even work at all without the other. So much for the easy road. He was reluctant to attach them back together. It seemed to be the antithesis of what he was trying to accomplish. But he couldn't even get to Tron's code any other way. With a slide and click, the two discs were one again. Tron flinched.

Once rejoined, their energy intensified. Flynn sat up so he was sitting next Tron on the edge of the bed. He gave the program a reassuring smile that he hoped looked more confident than he felt. "Ready?"

Tron nodded, though turned his gaze away when Flynn brought up his code display. For programs, it was like having to watch your own invasive surgery, hands digging around your sensitive insides. Tron's system had already purged most of the Rinzler code, but there were still several strands of blazing red. The purge had also left dark gaps, lines ending abruptly, broken. "This...may take some time."

Thanks to spending cycles upon cycles developing a "do nothing" attitude and a hell of a lot of time meditating, Flynn was used to just sitting and concentrating for long periods. Tron, on the other hand, became restless. He paced their small, temporary home, then started hovering around the entrance, then back to pacing.

Zen could only take man's tolerance for outside annoyances so far, and Flynn was starting to go cross-eyed anyway. He shut down the discs. "What can I do for you, Tron?"

Tron stopped mid-stride and gaped at the User. "You are already doing everything you can for me."

"Yeah, well, no reason for you to be bored in the meantime."

Tron looked at the entrance again. "I- It should be easy to want to stay here in our little sanctuary, as if we are the only two people in the world. But my processes cannot help but know that out there are programs in need of protecting. I do not know what threats are out there now that Clu is vanquished. And yet, until I am restored, I know that I am a threat, and logic dictates then I would have to derezz myself."

"Don't! Don't ever say or think that again. I'll get you fixed."

Tron smiled. "I know. Forgive my restlessness."

"What did I say about apologizing?" Flynn groused. He grabbed the discs again.

Tron sat down on the floor, back to the bed. "Perhaps you can add some code of that 'Zen Thing' you once told me about?"

It was always difficult to tell when Tron was attempting a joke, or was sincerely misinterpreting Flynn's "User Speak." Either way, it made Kevin laugh, and it felt like things just may be able to get back to something close to normal.

* * *

"I wish I could promise that this won't hurt. But I can't."

Tron looked at the discs and swallowed hard. "I remember." Tron's brows knit. "I remember that final capture. Weakened. Bound. He said something similar. 'I never wanted to hurt you.'" Tron looked up at Flynn, and the pain and confusion was unbearable to look at. "He told me he loved me. Like he loved the system. He said making me perfect was his gift to me."

Flynn felt himself go cold and his stomach turn to stone. Of course Clu loved Tron. But as with all of Kevin's hopes, dreams, and desires, Clu had perverted that love into something dark and controlling, beyond anything Flynn had actually _meant_ it to be.

"Clu took me away from myself. You will make me whole. I know you fear that you and he were too similar. For my part," Tron brought a hand up and touched Flynn's face, fingers brushing, almost curiously, over beard, "I know the difference is that I trust _you_." To illustrate, Tron turned then, exposing his back and disc port.

Tron had suffered so much, so much more than Flynn ever imagined and for so much longer. To knowingly cause him any more pain, no matter how briefly, and for what reason, made his own bones ache. "Someday maybe you'll teach me to trust myself again." He snapped Tron's discs in place.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then all of Tron's lights went out and the program crumpled to the floor. "Shit!" Flynn immediately followed him down, rolled him to his back, and lightly slapped his face. "Come on, wake up!" Knowing full well, that didn't quite work the same way here as it did with humans.

He turned Tron onto his side and went to remove the discs, but that's when they flickered and the broken circle started lighting-up in consecutive segments. Tron's circuits went live again, they pulsed very slow at first and blinked faster and faster until it became a steady glow. The sync completed. Tron cried out then, horrible to hear. A high-pitched whine from the discs mingled with Tron's shouts. His fingers grasped ineffectually at the smooth floor as his circuits burned brighter and hotter so that Flynn had to look away.

Shit. Flynn hoped he hadn't done something to make Tron overload, because this definitely wasn't the fun kind. But after a moment the whine steadily decreased, circuits dimmed, and Tron's shouts tapered into moans, then a whimper, until finally a quiet sigh.

Flynn blinked away black dots and reached out to Tron carefully, afraid he'd be overheated still. But he wasn't, and his blue circuits finally looked healthy and normal. Tron's eyes fluttered open, his irises glowed momentarily and settled back into their normal blue-grey.

Flynn helped Tron to his feet. "How're you feeling?"

"Like...myself." Tron's smile was small and fleeting. "Although I should scan and run all my subroutines and processes to make sure I am functioning at maximum efficiency."

Flynn chuckled. "That sounds like my Tron."

They went outside where Tron had room to move. Flynn watched, as he always did, in awe of Tron's athleticism. He moved with fluidity and grace that was appropriately inhuman. Beautiful, but deadly, Flynn was reminded when Tron moved his discs mid-spin and tossed them out at the surrounding rocks. They ricocheted in a blur of brilliant blue light. One had even passed closed enough to ruffle Flynn's hair and leave a buzzing in his ear. But he didn't flinch, confident in his work, confident in Tron.

In a crouch, Tron caught his discs effortlessly and slid them back into his port. He looked up at Flynn and laughed. It was a real, joyful laugh; one Flynn had dreamed about for years. To finally hear it again simultaneously stung and lifted his heart.

Then Tron came to him. The program clasped his hands around Flynn's arms. Flynn could no longer hold back the feelings he feared were no longer welcomed. He pulled Tron closer in a crushing embrace, hoping to pass on what he could not yet speak somehow through the bodily contact alone. He pulled back, only a little, enough to take in Tron's ageless, beautiful face. He brought a hand up, the ravages of time carved there contrasting sharply against Tron's flawless skin. He traced a thumb just below Tron's mouth. He stared at the way his lips parted slightly. He wouldn't dare presume that they could so easily continue where they left off.

Tron sensed his hesitation and took the initiative, closing the small distance between them. It was not the passionate kiss of lovers reunited. It was soft, chaste, more like the first time: testing and questioning. Okay, maybe they couldn't continue, but they could always restart.

Flynn was cool with that. Tron dipped his head to nuzzle the side of Kevin's face. "This is different." Tron commented, cheek brushing against beard.

"Different good or different bad?"

Tron hummed contemplatively and straightened to look Flynn in the eyes. "Just different."

Regretfully, they extricated themselves from each other. Their gazes were drawn away to the shining city. But shining for how long? In their laid the unknown. Confused, terrified, direction-less programs cowering in the shadows? Factions at war for power? Clu supporters uncertain of his fate grappling to maintain his regime? Maybe now the rebels who never lost faith in the Users were growing in numbers.

"I don't know if I can do this."

"Your strength increases with every passing cycle. You saved me. You can save us all."

"I dunno, man, that's a lot of responsibility and expectations to put on one old man."

"You are not alone."

"I hate to bring this up Tron, but even you were at my side when-"

Tron shook his head. "Sam Flynn is out there now, and the ISO. Surely they will return."

"Maybe." Maybe after a long time he'll come back. Who knows, Sam may just lock the Grid away and take a few years of counseling. No, Flynn saw it in his son's face. Saw a little boy having found his fantasy world had turned into a nightmare. He saw Sam's determination to make things right. _"I'm going to find Alan and we'll figure this thing out from the other side."_

Wouldn't that be something? Another one of his big Coulda, Woulda, Shouldas – Never letting Bradley in. The part of himself who wanted to sound like he was just being the good guy said it was because he didn't want to burden Alan with the extra stress. But the realist knew it had been pride and selfishness.

He didn't want Sam having to make up for all his failings, but when it came to catching Alan up, it would be quite welcome. And not just for Flynn. He glanced askance at Tron and smiled slyly at the program's profile. "Ya know, Sam mentioned Alan, too."

Tron whipped around. "Sam knows Alan1?"

"From the sounds of it he did the honorable thing and kept an eye on the boy all this time."

"Alan1," Tron said again softly, almost to himself. His circuits brightened happily at the thought of _finally_ meeting his User. "With such a team we can make the system great again!"

"You know, Tron, the way you say it? I actually believe it."


End file.
